Pizza in Siberia?

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Tomsk, Russia is a very inviting and friendly place in Russia! It has been said that it is the Oxford town of SIberia. I totally believe that. The town was a mix of old and new culture and people there were the most friendly and helpful people that we have encountered in Russia. We arrived in Tomsk, very late in the afternoon. We had taken a bus into town because the train we had wanted did not pan out the way that we would have liked so we bused instead. I had not slept very well the night prior to our excursion to Tomsk, so I was rather fatigued but ready to explore. We got into town and decided to eat something so we went to a pizza place that was next to the train and bus station. The people in the pizza place were very helpful and did not any problem if we thrashed a word while ordering our lunch. Corey and Mike are doing such a great job learning the Russian language, I cannot say the same but am trying. Anyways, one we finished we figured that the hotel was about 1 or 2 miles away, but it would be nice to walk to it instead of the the hassle that comes with getting a cab. As we began to walk the rain sprinkled and the cold came into town. It was freezing! I totally got chilled to the bone in the first couple of min. but we walked on. We did not have very much luck finding a place to stay at first. Our first two choices were both booked up, so instead we caught a tram back to the train station and got a room at the hotel next to it. Although this was way more expensive, it payed off because of the next events. Once we checked into the hotel all three of us hit the showers for warmth and then I realized that my stomach was not doing so well! That night I got sick. It was not bad, but it was not good. I had really bad stomach cramps and my whole body ached. I was really glad that when I got my innoculations for this trip, it was recommended that I get a stomach ache kit. It was a live saver. SInce I was sick, I had dinner with the boys and then headed back to bed. They went out and explored the city that night.
The next day I was feeling much much better from the antibiotics, so I decided to go with the boys to a Siberian villiage. We got our bus tickets and hung out waiting for the bus to come. Once it came, it was like a herd of buffalo trying to file into one small bus. People were hanging out of the doors. We opted against the bus and instead went around and explored the city instead. We hit the market, some eateries and a couple of the local sites. September in Tombsk is wedding season. We saw every wedding party all around the town getting pictures taken at local sites (tradition). IT was awesome to see all the flowers and dresses. Even though it was cold people were so happy and so excited about all the weddings. It was neat to watch. Once we finished our walk, we hit the tram and went back to the hotel to get ready for dinner. While the boys surfed the internet, I napped and then showered. When I was just about ready to go, I got a knock at the door and it was the boys with a friend. Yuri was a man that Corey met in the hallway and has been to Antartica three times. Between his Russian/English and Corey and Mike's English/ Russian we had an interesting conversation. Yuri also took us to dinner. Which was also funny because we got into a cab and drove about two blocks and he jumped out of the cab. We were alittle confused but then he came back and said it was okay to come into the building. Once we were seated at the table for dinner Yuri drug in a young girl and she asked us in plain english, "SO what do you want?" It was a riot. Elena, our new friend in Tombsk it was through Yuri that we met an awesome new friend. She helped translate what he was trying to tell us earlier and all of our mixed conversations began to make sense. Once dinner was over Elena asked if we would join her in going dancing, so we took Yuri home and went back out for a while to dance. It was a rather fun night!
Then next day we bummed around Tomsk some more and then boarded a train to Yegentenberg.
Tomsk is a beautiful city and it is a true jewel in Russia!

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